Waking Up
by RaeEcho
Summary: Robin's view point of dying and then waking up, in Failsafe.


A/N- I know a ton of these types of fics flooded the YJ fan fiction Archives after _Failsafe_, and I've never been one to cave into those kinds of trends. However, that episode made me have miniaturized freak outs, and when Robin and KF died, I almost cried. NOT COOL YOUNG JUSTICE WRITERS!

Yeah, I do realize that's what's supposed to happen when you watch good television, and Wally's reaction about Artemis was epic, but was it really necessary to scare the Ba-geezus out of me.

(If it's in _italics_ than it came directly from the show!)

/I dare you to read this while listening to OneRepublic. Sometimes I swear that the two go hand in hand./

* * *

><p>Robin hadn't expected to wake up.<p>

Laser fire was everywhere, the aliens were fast approaching, and despite their efforts, the doors wouldn't open. He had used every birdarang and explosive in his arsenal, and now there was nothing he could do.

Time seemed to slow and he looked over at his best friend who was still trying to pull the doors open.

_0:10_ ten seconds left. His heart was pounding in his ears. So he did what his instincts told him to do, he grabbed Wally's arm. His instincts told him, it was too late.

The older boy quit struggling against the unyielding door and turned to face him. His green eyes were alight with fear. Neither of them wanted to die.

"This is it." He said, and to be honest, the last of the fearless flying Grayson's was terrified.

"Then I'll see you on the other side." Kid Flash replied solemnly, and he pulled his arm free only to grasp the boy wonder's hand.

_0:04_ only four seconds remained.

"Goodbye Wally." Tears started to pool in his eyes. KF merely nodded, he looked like he didn't trust himself enough to speak.

3 seconds. Maybe he would get to see his parents again

2 seconds. Maybe he would get to see Bruce again.

1 second. Then again, most of the time, maybe's turned out to be disappointments.

0_... _Robin closed his eyes, and tighten his grip on KF's hand.

Then to his surprise, he felt nothing. There was no pain from the explosion, and he felt no injuries from the previous battles that had occurred since the aliens invaded, but more importantly he felt his heart beat. He was alive.

His eyes snapped open, and he took a deep breath. He felt like a fish out of water for a second. He gasped for breath, and for someone who thought they had just taken their last lungful of oxygen, it was a major improvement.

He rolled over on his side, trying to get his bearings, and found himself on a metal slab that reminded him of an examination table. He paled instantly, waking up in an autopsy room would not be whelming. It took him only a moment to realize he was in his civilian clothes. Familiar sun glasses rested on his face, and his favorite jacket was wrinkled around his torso. He was also pretty sure that he had a nasty case of bed head. That's all he needed, KF had mocked him mercilessly last time... Wait... Wally!

His eyes flew to his surroundings and he saw all of his friends lying in a circle on slabs similar to his own. They were all waking up as well.

He watched as Wally woke up, clutching his head and nearly fall off his slab, only to be steadied at the last minute by Captain Marvel. Then he frantically glanced to the other side of the room and saw Wolf practically pounce on Conner. Everyone was alive. It had all been one hellish nightmare.

He could feel sweat roll down the sides of his face, and it disguised the tears that fell from his blue eyes. He let one of his legs dangle over the side of the table and he pulled other one close, so he could wrap his arms around it. He was sure that it had been real. He watched everyone he cares about die, but then again that's what he normally had nightmares about.

_"You're all alive!" _He heard Miss say off to his right, but were they really?

He tried his best fight back more tears, when he heard Bruce's voice. Memories of his adoptive father's death invaded his mind, and he tried his best to keep calm. Was this another trick? Was Bruce there, or did he leave just like his parents?

_"What happened in there?"_ He heard Bruce say quietly, and his head snapped in the direction of his voice.

Bruce, dressed as Batman, stood a few feet away. He was keeping Martian Manhunter from falling over with a tight grip on his shoulders. He knew he should have been relieved and happy, but suspicion was all he felt.

_"The exercise. It all went wrong."_ He heard Manhunter say.

_"Exercise?"_ He asked. His voice was higher than normal when he spoke. He didn't even bother to keep the emotion out of his voice.

_"Try to remember."_ Batman ordered, and Robin found himself stunned. Why in the world would he want to remember? He already had his parents die in front of him; he didn't relive his new family's death as well.

_"What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the six of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still you were aware, nothing was real. Including the deaths of the entire Justice League."_

Batman's explanation left Robin speechless. That meant none of that had even happened. Better than that, everyone was real. His new family didn't leave him! His initial suspicion disappeared, and a feeling of relief washed through him.

_"That is why you hardly grieved, even when Wolf was disintegrated before your very eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died. Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, the subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise, and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget too." _Manhunter finished, and Robin's eyes widened. Miss M was that powerful?

_"I... I 'm... I'm so sorry."_ Miss Martian stuttered. She looked at them with an expression of extreme emotional pain. He honestly couldn't blame her for anything. With all the turmoil inside himself, he could only imagine what she was going through.

_"This isn't her fault! Why didn't you stop the exercise?"_ Conner yelled, in an effort to protect her, but that was a good question. Why didn't they stop the exercise?

_"We tried, but M'gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed, slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to regain control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within, but upon entering the reality I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly. To remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped, but only when the mother-ship exploded and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced did my mind clear enough for me to remember my true purpose, to shock M'gann out of the exercise before your comas became permanent. My apologizes, I would have no idea that a training exercise could be so dangerous. So damaging."_

On that happy note, Manhunter turned to leave, but stumbled. Normally he would laugh a little, and make some comment about how he had used the word 'overwhelmed', but now Robin just didn't feel up to it. Yeah everyone had survived, but sometimes it was the aftershock that got to you.

He tore his attention away from the adults and watched as M'gann broke down, and just over the sobs he could hear Batman behind him.

_"As bad as all that?"_ Batman whispered.

_"Perhaps worse."_ Manhunter replied, and in the reflective portion of his lenses e saw him clutch his head.

_"Yet, this is not what troubles you."_ Red Tornado stated. Not asked, stated.

_"Make no mistake. My niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this... for our debacle." _

_"No one blames her, but clearly we underestimated her abilities."_ Batman agreed.

_"You understated. In terms of raw power, she has the strongest telepathic mind I have ever encountered. Stronger by far than mine." _If Robin didn't know any better, he would have guessed that the elder Martian had fear in his voice.

He heard Manhunter and Red Tornado leave the room and he turned his attention back to his team. M'gann was still crying her eyes out, and Captain Marvel was doing his best to cheer her up. They weren't ready for something like that. He wasn't ready for it, and Robin once again felt tears come to his eyes as the memories hit him.

He wasn't aware that Batman walked up behind him until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. It caused him to jump a little, but he still didn't turn around to face his mentor. His eyes were glued to the crying Martian girl.

"Are you okay?" Bruce's voice was gentle, it was comforting. It was a tone that was pacifically designed for him. He had heard enough times growing up. Whenever he had nightmares, when he missed his parents, or even if he had had a bad day at school, Bruce was always there.

Without giving warning, he spun around and launched himself at Bruce. He wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face into Bruce's... no his father's chest.

"I thought you left me." He said quietly and tears started to slide down his cheeks.

"I would never leave you Dickey." He said quietly, and Robin knew everything would be okay.

* * *

><p>AN- You have no idea how hard it was to get those words from the show. I had to watch that one scene about a billion times.


End file.
